Our Portland Story Wants YOU

Our Portland Story is best understood as a sort of community yearbook or time capsule. Its organizers invite Portland residents of all stripes to submit short missives about things they enjoy about the city—not big, sweeping laundry lists, but the specific, sometimes small things that help patch together an overview of what the experience of this place is on a daily basis at this time. Though the accompanying illustrations of urban chickens and whatnot seem to indicate that it's a project for a certain subset, but the aim is really to represent a diversity (I think it works particularly well when the older generation weighs in with their recollections of the city, especially when you consider how rapidly it's changed).

Point is, it's open to all, and if you've got something you'd like to add to the commemoration, OPS is currently accepting submissions for its third volume, through May 30. The pieces are relatively short, a paragraph to a page, and can also include a visual element like a photo or other artwork—it's pretty flexible. Plus when each one is released, they throw a big party that usually involves inviting some of its authors to read their pieces. That could be you: "Portland famous!"